Greg Abel Sold 15 Buffett Stock Positions in His First Quarter as Berkshire CEO. What His Early Portfolio Moves Signal for Shareholders.

Well, that was fast. When legendary investor Warren Buffett stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA) (NYSE: BRKB) on Dec. 31, many wondered whether his handpicked successor, Greg Abel, would play it safe for a quarter or two or jump right in with a bold move to differentiate himself from his predecessor.

Turns out Abel made not just one bold move, but 15 once he was in the CEO's chair. In just his first quarter as CEO, he sold 15 positions that Buffett initiated in their entirety, including some 15-year holdings. He also opened new positions in some stocks that weren't on anyone's radar.

Here's what Abel's moves should tell Berkshire shareholders about the company's future.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Swing for the fences

Abel's 15 sells include some of Berkshire's biggest winners, such as Visa (NYSE: V) and Mastercard (NYSE: MA), as well as its stake in artificial intelligence hyperscaler Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). They also include some recent bets that haven't paid off for the company. like residential pool equipment supplier Pool Corp. (NASDAQ: POOL), liquor company Diageo (NYSE: DEO), and pizza chain Domino's Pizza (NASDAQ: DPZ).

This selling spree sends a clear message that Abel won't hesitate to divest positions -- winners or losers -- for which he doesn't anticipate a market-beating return. But it's too early to call this a trend. We'll have to wait a couple of weeks to see whether his second quarter as CEO features similar big moves to his first.

One thing that does seem clear is that he's not really concerned about dividend income.

Dividends vs. cash

Although Buffett never paid a dividend to Berkshire shareholders, he loved owning dividend-paying stocks. "I do believe in dividends in a great many situations, including many of the ones at companies in which we own stock," he said in 2008. Famously, Buffett's position in Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) now pays Berkshire more in dividends every two years (~$1.7 billion) than Buffett spent on his entire position in the stock (~$1.3 billion).

But some of the stocks Abel dumped were high-dividend-yielders, including Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ: LAMR), Diageo, and Pool, which currently yield 4%, 3.8%, and 2.5%, respectively. By far Abel's biggest buy was Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL), which pays only a 0.2% dividend, and his second-biggest buy was Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), which yields only 1%.

Image source: Getty Images.

Berkshire's cash position also increased in Q1, from $373.3 billion at the start of the quarter to $397.4 billion at the end, suggesting that Abel is more interested in building up cash right now than in earning a return on that cash in the form of a dividend.

Maybe Abel and Buffett have some big plans for all that cash they've been hoarding. Or maybe they're just concerned about an overvalued market. Either way, investors should expect Abel to chart his own course for the company moving forward.

John Bromels has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, Coca-Cola, Diageo Plc, Domino's Pizza, and Mastercard. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, Domino's Pizza, Mastercard, Pool, and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends Delta Air Lines and Diageo Plc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.